Opinion Writing
Banning Books is Harmful to Students
By William Ximenes
Students should be exposed to new ideas and banning books limits the information that students can access. Book banning is a form of censorship which occurs when individuals, organizations, or government officials remove books because they are opposed to its content, ideas, and themes. The content of many books has become dramatically politicized and has had vitriolic attacks by politicians. Books with LGTBQ themes and themes about racial inequality have been banned. This reflects a recent wave of conservatism.
Photo by Tom Hermans from Unsplash
This is against the first amendment of the constitution which protects the freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Recently these freedoms seem to be infringed by politicians. According to the New York Times, efforts to ban books doubled in 2022. Book removals occurred with parental concerns.
Librarians and teachers have been accused …
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Are Trends and Social Media Bad for Fashion?
by Frank Messina
A trendy social media page.
Trends and social media capture and shine light on aspects of fashion people are unfamiliar with. Without a doubt, social media and trends influence fashion in many ways from bringing unique creators onto various platforms to voice their opinions and show off their styles, to multi-billion dollar corporations such as SHEIN, H&M, Fashion Nova, and Forever 21 showing off their latest collection of clothes.
While trends on social media can help people find and grow their personal style, many corporations promote unhealthy ways to consume and find style. An example of this is promoting fast fashion, which is cheap mass produced clothing that is focused on trends seen on social media or other places such as television. Social media has also generated a term known as micro-trends, which is a trend cycle that …
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Creating Connections with Euchre
A card was placed in the center of our AP Chemistry lab table, the possible trump: a jack of hearts. It would be a shame for any of us to not call it. All of us should, my friend Xyza, my other friend Sam, my other friend Willem, or even myself. It would give that card the highest value in the game. All eight of our eyes stared at our partners across from us, creating nonverbal hints about what would be the best idea.
Xyza holds her euchre hand out to show that she is the unlucky receiver of all four nines and a king.
“Pick it up,” Xyza said.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Willem said again, similar to the last time we played.
Laughter and groans erupted and remarks of ‘we’ve been playing this all year’ flew across …
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The Effects COVID-19 had on US Educators
By: Katherine Senseman
The teaching world was forever changed two years ago when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools across the United States. For two years, staff and students were limited to communications through screens and masks. In 2022 schools returned to relative capacity and educators were blindsided by the change in the students’ behavior and social skills. COVID-19 changed the way educators taught and the way students treated each other and their educators.
When the pandemic was declared schools shut down immediately and made the decision to go virtual they left educators totally unprepared to teach in an asynchronous environment and without the training to support them. Educators were forced to teach over online communication apps like Zoom and Google classroom. They had to attempt to engage with students they couldn’t see and had no control over the student’s …
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Not Worth The Laugh
Generational humor bonds teens from all over the United States together in a sense of understanding.
Will I lose my identity if I untangle myself from Gen Z’s humor?
Feasting on internet memes takes a chunk out of almost every teen life. According to Pew Research Center, 95% of 13-17 year olds spend time on Youtube, 67% of the time on TikTok and 62% of the time on Instagram as of 2022. These Generation Z teens scroll on these sites in a world where internet guidelines and restrictions are still being shaped. What is considered offensive, inappropriate or dangerous is debated.
Generation Z’s humor is in question.
Generation Z is known for having unique humor consisting of sarcastic irony and internet jokes. Memes are at the center of internet humor. Trendy and relatable images and captions are shared daily when they appeal …
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